Tracking and Transitions through Middle School Mathematics: Hidden Impacts of Educational Trajectories (2015)

Undergraduate: Desiree Grier

Faculty Advisor: Patrick Akos
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Almost every secondary school nationwide applies some form of course tracking. Tracking is known for categorizing and classifying students by ability groups, teacher recommendations, test-taking skills, curriculum standards, or career objectives. But despite its ubiquity, the assignment of students based to certain instructional groups is a highly controversial practice. As previous researchers has noted out, in addition to the negative effects on learning, tracking can also contribute to group stratification, learning opportunities, differentiated representations of self-concept, students¿¿¿ falling behind, and status maintenance. Initial small differences in students' achievement, resulting mainly from differences in socio-economic background, become emphasized over time through a continuing process of tracking and organized selection. This presentation presents findings from qualitative investigations on students' middle school placements in mathematics and the hidden impacts of tracking.